History Research Guide


Popular vs. Scholarly


Online Tutorial

Sources for Courses http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/sources/

Worksheet

[Adapted from online example: http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/geography/pubtypes/worksheet.pdf]
Magazines chart: http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/PORT/sources/magazineschart.html
Journal chart: http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/PORT/sources/journalchart.html









Activity

Students categorize selected publications from the media center's collection,
including examples of the following categories:
general collection / general reference / special reference / popular / scholarly.

Teacher:...................................Block:....
Date:.....................
Name:..................................................

Types of History Publications

Books

general collection
general reference
special reference
Guiding questions for your assessment:
Checked for quick facts or all pages read?
Circulates or kept for use within the room?
What does the call number indicate?

Covers many topics or one general subject?
Provides primary sources (citations), or not?
Book Title:
Select the type:
List at least 2 reasons for your choice:
History Behind the Headline.
_General Collection
_General Reference
_Special Reference

The Civil War: a History In Documents.
_General Collection
_General Reference
_Special Reference

Violence Against Women.
_General Collection
_General Reference
_Special Reference

Great Lives From History.
_General Collection
_General Reference
_Special Reference

Opposing Viewpoints in American History
_General Collection
_General Reference
_Special Reference


Periodicals

Newspapers, magazines
and Journals
Guiding questions for your assessment:
Who is likely to read this publication?
Who writes for this publication?
How often is the publication issued?
How long are articles?
What is the format?
What kind of information is provided?
Title of Periodical:
Select the type:
List at least 2 reasons for your choice:
Smithsonian
_ Popular
_ Scholarly
_ Trade

American History
_ Popular
_ Scholarly
_ Trade

U.S. News & World Report
_ Popular
_ Scholarly
_ Trade


Issues in Research

A changing landscape

Conflicts regarding scholarly research & collective intelligence –

Wikipedia

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/09/HNwikiessjay_1.html

Answers.com

Social comments added to searches blend computer results, & expert opinion with user responses
http://www.answers.com/main/about_answers.jsp

Mash-ups

http://www.comicsresearch.org/CAC/cite.html

Political cartoons

have been around for a long time; posted in publications and referenced by history professors during classes. Now-a-days, cartoons are full-blown movies. Citizen-journalism and trendy programs may do things like add moving mouths or speech balloons to photos. There are virtual worlds and hoax or mock websites. The real, the true, and the made-up or incorrect are combined in numerous ways.

PBS medical research comments: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2008/05/do_pharmaceutical_commercials.html
Both Mrs. Cole and myself noticed this broadcast on PBS and luckily it was all ready posted online.

Experts can be duped

Pierre Salinger http://users.erols.com/igoddard/salinger.htm
Newsweek http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince/050516_prince/
“Parody Site Dupes the Pros” http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000841.php

Los Angeles Times Corrections: http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/corrections/?track=leftnav-corrections
There may be a problem when a person cites the article and does not know about the correction.
With books, later editions are issued to correct mistakes. That is why it is important to list the edition number in citation information.

Research Assistance

Research Services

Explore Google “more” for numerous services.
Google Special Searches: one example - after your search term add site:edu
Intro Google Scholar – indexes across the full text of scholarly literature - www.scholar.google.com or use the drop down menu.
How to add a Google scholar search bar to your site: https://services.google.com/inquiry/scholar_email?hl=en

Google news (at the Google menu) –
use advanced search & archive search - www.news.google.com or use the drop down menu.

Search strings

Once you create a successful search, you can copy the url of that search to paste and save it into a document, blog post or web site.
That way, you can return to those exact search terms repeatedly for updated information.
Using a start page widget or gadget, you can even create a feed that automatically updates the information and displays it.

Start pages

(iGoogle, NetVibes, Pageflakes and My Yahoo are some favorites)
Create your own specialized set of tools for US History Information or for other interests such as sports teams, travel, music, etc.
Add a widget or gadget that displays the information you've selected.

Ms. Williams' example:

US Hist start page

The center bars are selected gadgets which open to display:
Left Column: National Parks Picture of the Day / 2008 US Primary Results
Center: History Channel Weekly Listings / White House News / US Congress News / Discovery News - History
Right Column: This Day in History / Daily History for US Civil War / Daily History for US Presidents

igoogle_ushist_sm.jpg
If you register with Google, you can load a copy of Ms. Williams' US History start page for your own use here.

Create custom searches

http://www.google.com/coop/cse/
http://rollyo.com/**

Google Reader

(TeacherTube video) http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=a3a44b4f1cb9075f6899
RSS Feeds (TeacherTube video) http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=3f29633b23791ee81d73**